Deliver Your Children

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"Deliver Your Children"
Cover in the Netherlands, where it charted
Single by Wings
from the album London Town
A-side "I've Had Enough"
Released 16 June 1978
Format 7"
Recorded May 1977
Genre Rock
Label Parlophone/EMI (UK)
Capitol (US)
Writer(s) Denny Laine
Paul McCartney
Producer(s) Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"With a Little Luck"
(1978)
"I've Had Enough"/"Deliver Your Children"
(1978)
"London Town"
(1978)

"Deliver Your Children" is a song written by Denny Laine and Paul McCartney that was first issued on Wings' 1978 album London Town. It was also released as the B-side of Wings' single "I've Had Enough." In the Netherlands. it received enough airplay to be ranked on the national charts along with its A-side, and joint single reached #13.[1] On some charts within the Netherlands "Deliver Your Children" was ranked alone on the single charts, and it reached #9 on the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 chart.[2] Laine also released solo recordings of the song.[3]

Writing and recording

Laine wrote most of the song himself and McCartney helped him complete it.[4][5] It was originally written during the Venus and Mars sessions in 1975.[5][6] Laine's original title for the song was "Feel the Love," despite the fact that the song lyrics do not contain the phrase, but McCartney suggested the revised title.[7][8] It was recorded on the yacht Fair Carol in the Virgin Islands in May 1977.[6] Laine sings the lead vocal and both Laine and McCartney play acoustic guitar.[9] Laine also plays the Spanish guitar solos.[10] McCartney also plays bass guitar, and both he and Linda McCartney provide backing vocals.[5]

Lyrics and music

"Deliver Your Children" is an uptempo song.[5] Music professor Vincent Benitez and Beatles biographer Robert Rodriguez describe it as being "folksy."[7][9] It is one of two songs on London Town primarily written by Laine with children as its theme.[7] The verses describe a variety of unlucky experiences the singer has had, including getting caught in a rain storm, dealing with an unfaithful lover, and dealing with an unscrupulous repairman who can't fix his truck.[7][9] Both Benitez and McCartney biographer John Blaney describe the verses as "rambling."[5][9] The refrain contrasts by exhorting the listener to deliver the children to the good life and make things right for them.[7][9]

According to Benitez, the song sounds as if it is in the key of A minor but the guitars are actually played in the key of D minor with a capo on the seventh fret.[9] Actually, the verses are neither in a major or a minor key, but in a Dorian mode, which emphasizes their harsh imagery.[9] The first two verses, the guitar solo near the end and the outro are in D-Dorian, while the last verses are in G-Dorian.[9] The refrain is in C major, contrasting the verses and emphasizing its more hopeful lyrics.[9]

Reception

Rolling Stone Magazine critic Janet Maslin described "Deliver Your Children" as "wonderful" and one of the best songs on London Town.[11] Rodriquez regards it as the best of McCartney's and Laine's collaborations.[7] Beatle biographers Roy Carr and Tony Tyler described it as"minor key Nashville chunkachuck" displaying "superior craftmanship."[12] Music critic Joel McNally regards it as a "good" song, describing it as "an upbeat number that dares to use some acoustic guitars in an electronic age.[13] Author Giuseppe Rausa regards "Deliver Your Children" as one of the few memorable songs on London Town, describing it as a pleasant, quick, country music-like song.[14]

References

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  10. Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, p.156
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External links

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